A Promise
by crazycarly
Summary: Luke takes a dip in the styx. And what does he see? Thalia/Luke


A Promise

Luke stared down at the black water below him. It was staring straight back at him, right into his soul. He turned back to see the few who had accompanied him to the foul place. They looked back at him, their eyes wide with fear at what was to come. One demi-god nodded their head at him, and back to the black waters below, encouraging him. Others weren't so patient; they rolled their eyes, and whispered to each other.

"Are you backing out now?" a laistrygonian companion hissed at him.

He shook his head, and then turned back to the penetrating darkness of the waters.

"Come on guys. He is a failure, and a waste of time. There is no need to stick around, and wait to be caught by Hades' undead armies.

They all turned their backs on him, leaving him alone. Luke looked back at the black depths. Had he really come this far too just let it all go? Had he worked this hard to just quit when he was faced with a challenge? No, there was no going back now.

"Wait!" he turned and ran after the group leaving him behind. "I'm not giving up."

They slowly turned back around to face him.

"Are you sure you have the strength?" sneered the same laistrygonian as before.

"Yes," said Luke, knowing he truly did have the strength to take the plunge into the river, but did he have the strength to turn his back fully on his family and friends?

The group strode back to the River Styx, longing for him to give up again. He looked back down at it the waters, knowing there was now way out now. He knew what he had to do. He sucked in a deep breath before he took the plunge into the cold, black, disgusting liquid. He promised himself that breath would not be his last, and closed his eyes.

The pain was the worst he had ever experienced. He felt like his whole body was on fire, a fire that would never cease. He sank lower and lower, writhing in pain. For a minute he awaited death, wishing for it more than ever, forgetting his promise to himself.

"You were never that good at keeping your promises, were you?" said a light, familiar voice. The voice was so clear, and happy, happier than he remembered it. Luke opened his eyes to see the figure of a girl with blue eyes, black hair, and wearing black-punk clothes.

"Thalia," he said softly. The name rang in his ears, like a bell signaling all the memories to come flooding back to him. He could not believe it, but here she was. As clear as the day he last saw her, fighting for her life.

Her laughter pierced the air. "Yes, Luke. You remember me?" she smiled down at him.

Luke blinked, and stared at her wide eyed. "Yes of course," he stammered. "I missed you so much, Thalia. You won't believe how much I have accomplished. How much we can do together now." He wanted to tell her how they could together change the world, make it a better place without the gods, but something told him to stop. That wasn't what she wanted, that wasn't what he wanted. All he ever wanted was to have her back with him, permanently.

He looked back at her, and saw that her smile had vanished, leaving a sad glaze over her face. "I missed you too." She looked up at the sky. Luke finally took in where they were at. He appeared to be lying in a field of grass that had all died, but still continued to blow in the breeze. The sky was cloudy, covering up the sun's rays. Thalia stood before him, holding out her hand to an approaching falcon. It landed gracefully on her fingertips. He stared at it in awe.

"Where are we?" he asked her, "the Asphodel fields?" He already knew the answer; she didn't have to tell him. Besides it was way to empty.

"No," she said softly, petting the falcon on the head.

"Then where are we?" he asked her again. He looked around the place again. The yellowish-brown grass was gently swaying by the slight breeze. The sky contained white streams of light peeking out at them from the light gray clouds. That was when he noticed that nothing had any color. Everything was lifeless; there was no sound, no anything except Thalia, the falcon, and himself.

"Don't you already know?" she looked back at him, her eyes saddened. He desperately wanted to reach out and comfort her, so her eyes would smile again, just the way they used to.

Then he realized where they were. He propped himself up on his elbow to look around. So many memories flooded back to him, both heartbreaking and joyful.

"This is New York City isn't it?" he whispered it to no one in particular.

He tore his eyes away from the gloomy setting and back to her. She nodded her head, and raised her arm up so the falcon could spread its wings to take off.

"How did this happen?" He looked around the barren land once more. This was once a home to him. The streets were always so lively with different people around it. The sky was always so blue, and cheerful, even on a stormy day.

Thalia dropped down beside him, and looked in at his eyes. "Do you really have no idea?" she asked.

"Kronus," he stated. He knew something like this would happen, but he didn't think about the consequences.

"Yes, he did this to more than just New York," she stated while picking at the grass. He felt his heart jump at the sight of it. This was almost like old times, but something told him it wasn't permanent.

"This isn't what I wanted," he looked around at the barren field.

"Didn't you?" she questioned him She looked back up at him suddenly, her blue eyes piercing his.

"You know me. I would never want this." He reached his hand out to her, gently laying it on her cheek.

She touched her hand to his, and looked back up. "Let's see if you can hold to that promise." She hopped lightly to her feet, brushing the grass off of her clothing.

He stared at her, shocked with misery stretched across his face. "I'm sorry. I let you both down. We were a family." He shook his hands in the air to emphasize his meaning, and then covered his face with them. "And I left both of you," he whispered.

She bent down, and took one of his hands in hers. He looked at her, and she smiled down at him.

"You did what you thought was best for our family. Everyone makes mistakes. Now, let's see if you can fix this one."

She grasped his hand tightly, still smiling. Then she pulled him up to his feet, and winked at him one last time.

When he reached his feet his surroundings changed completely. Thalia was no longer there, instead three of his own men stood in front of him, gaping. He pulled himself out of the River Styx shaking his wet hair out of his eyes.

"Where is everybody?" he gasped.

"They all left sir," said one.

"You were down there quite a while," said another. "Are you alright?"

"Yah, fine," he said. In fact he was better than ever. Seeing Thalia had given him energy he had forgotten about. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. He was going to do it for her.

"Let's go," He led the way out of the underworld, looking to a better future than the one that was in store for him.


End file.
